New Jersey Senator Cory Booker on
Friday announced his bid for the White House.
Booker joins a growing field of
Democrats seeking their party's presidential nomination in 2020,
including previously announced candidates former HUD Secretary Julian
Castro, California Senator Kamala Harris, former Maryland
Representative John Delaney, Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard,
South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Massachusetts Senator
Elizabeth Warren. Former Vice President Joe Biden, New York Senator
Kirsten Gillibrand, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders are also
expected to seek the nomination but have yet to announce their
campaigns.
(Related: Openly
gay Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg announces presidential exploratory
committee.)
“The history of our nation is defined
by collective action, by interwoven destinies of slaves and
abolitionists, of those born here and those who chose America as
home, of those who took up arms to defend our country, and those who
linked arms to challenge and change it," Booker said in a video
announcing his campaign. "I'm Cory Booker and I'm running for
president of the United States of America."
Booker is a vocal supporter of LGBT
rights. His support for marriage equality goes as far back as at
least 2011, when he recorded a video for the Human Rights Campaign
(HRC) in support of efforts in New York and Maryland to allow gay and
lesbian couples to marry in those states. As the mayor of Newark,
Booker married the first gay couple in New Jersey after a court order
took effect.
His support for LGBT rights has led to
rumors about his sexual orientation. Rumors he fanned in 2013 when
he said that he's fine with people thinking he's gay.
“[P]eople who think I'm gay, some
part of me thinks it's wonderful,” Booker said in a The
Washington Post profile. “Because I want to challenge
people on their homophobia. I love seeing on Twitter when someone
says I'm gay, and I say, 'So what does it matter if I am? So be it.
I hope you are not voting for me because you are making the
presumption that I'm straight.'”
Last year, Booker, a 49-year-old
bachelor who rarely discusses his personal life, told the
Philadelphia Inquirer that he's not gay.
“I'm heterosexual,” Booker
told the paper. “Every candidate should run on their authentic
self, tell their truth, and more importantly, or most importantly,
talk about their vision for the country.”
President Donald Trump, the presumed
Republican nominee for 2020, dismissed Booker's presidential
ambitions, saying on Friday that he stands “no chance.”